Jill of the Jungle: The Complete Trilogy

I do not have nostalgia for Jill. Yes, I played some DOS games back in the day. It's no wonder that Jill is fondly remembered as it is: It initially has a tongue in cheek plot, super solid platforming, nice visuals (there's one level the visuals were so messy it nearly hurt my eyes to look at it), and a decent control scheme. JIll is in no way a Mario / Sonic killer as it doesn't have the creativity, the level design, or even being able to hold items between levels. Furthermore, there are moments I thought I was soft locked because I couldn't properly jump from vine to vine in the 3rd game (the jump button needs to be held down so she'll jump far enough to reach it), as well as getting stuck on a vine and I couldn't climb out of a pit. Sometimes the necessary info wasn't on screen. Thankfully the old "duck to see more" bit of yesteryear is in this game. And then there's moments that Jill is a little ahead of its time: save anywhere and infinite lives, as well as a female protagonist saving the prince. I can see why so many folks on have such fond memories of this game. And if it was a game that I played 30 odd years ago, I'd probably have good memories of playing it too. I had a fun time playing it over the weekend; JIll is a solid palete cleanser and something nice to play on a rainy day. Plus, it's hard to argue with its price point of free.

My 90’s gaming experience was mostly limited to console and arcade gaming, so getting to experience some of these old DOS games for the first time is a real treat for me. The game is free, so you’re not risking much to take 15 minutes out of your day to try it. While the gameplay is far from smooth, I still found the puzzles and platforming all pretty relaxing and satisfying.

The sound effects are anoying and hurts my ears. the thumping sound of jill hiting the ground after a jump is the worse. uninspiring level design, and graphics even from the date. (mario already exited back then to give you something to compare to) The level design keeps tricking me into thinking it is worth exploring hidden areas to find cool secretes, thing that would be a characteristic of good level design but what is the cool reward you get for going all the way in the hidden places exploring the map? apples. most of the time, the basic point gathering unit in the game. is not even a super unit that give more points. what kind of rewarding for exploration is this? is like the game developers where trolling you. they put this edge right on the begining of the game that you cant reach, but later you get a jump power up that will allow you to acess this edge and what cool reward you get for paying attention to the level design? apples. amazing to think epic grew up to become what it is now. and from my research this game was a moderated sucess and helped epic become what it is now. Jill skin for fortinite, she deserves the recognition from epic, even more taking into consideration she helped epic reach their heights from such a bad game.

This year is the 30th anniversary of Jill, and it's as good as then. The puzzles are hard enough to keep you in front the screen, but yet affordable. Maybe the graphics are not like today's ones, but that's the point.

I clearly remember enjoying this game as a kid, and now that I have replayed it (and finally beat it :p) I still found them excellent. Controls are really responsive, almost too much, but that what makes the charm. Great musics, a little crunchy some times but hey that was another time. I also love all the little easter eggs that the dev have hidden almost everywhere. I really recommand :)